Needs Assessment LIBM 6353

Needs Assessment  Consider this definition from Wikipedia:  “A needs assessment is a systematic process for determining and addressing needs, or "gaps" between current conditions and desired conditions or "wants". The discrepancy between the current condition and wanted condition must be measured to appropriately identify the need. The need can be a desire to improve current performance or to correct a deficiency. [1] [1]

Needs Assessment  In terms of what we are doing here for Assignment 3, we are trying to determine the gap between the library services we are currently offering our special needs population as opposed to what we NEED to offer.

Needs Assessment  Library services means: any type of material, either for the student or for the teacher, we can provide. This may include (but is not exclusive to): books, databases, time within the schedule, the actual physical layout of the library, professional collection, and equipment.

Needs Assessment  In actuality, our budgets may drive what we can or cannot offer. However, if we can show through the data we collect what our libraries should be offering then we have a greater ability to secure the needed funds either through other means than just the library budget. i.e sped, federal money, etc.

Needs Assesment  Consider further from Wikipedia: A needs assessment is a part of planning processes, often used for improvement in individuals, education/training, organizations, or communities. It can refine and improve a product such as a training or service a client receives. It can be an effective tool to clarify problems and identify appropriate interventions or solutions. [2] [2] By clearly identifying the problem, finite resources can be directed towards developing and implementing a feasible and applicable solution. [3] [3]

Needs Assessment Gathering appropriate and sufficient data informs the process of developing an effective product that will address the groups needs and wants. [4] [4] Needs assessments are only effective when they are ends-focused and provide concrete evidence that can be used to determine the possible means-to-the-ends are most effective and efficient for achieving the desired results. [5] [5]

Where do we get the data?  There are lots of needs assessments on the web. I advise against using these and opting instead for just sitting down with the special populations teacher and just having a conversation about his/her kids. They will tell you plenty about what their kids need in the school.

Where do we get the data?  They may not know what you have to offer. Many times you will not have to order or purchase new materials, it will just be you being able to spend time in the library with these students helping them achieve their teaching goals.

The Conversation  While you are having the conversation, make sure to take good notes. Write down the questions and answers generated from the conversation.  These questions then become the needs assessment.

The Assessment  After you have had your one to one with the teacher, you have essentially assessed the needs of the this population as it pertains to what you can provide in the library.  Transcribe those questions into a word document and that is what you will turn in for your needs assessment.

The Assessment  If you happen to use one from the web, but tweak it a little to make it your own, be sure to turn in both the original and the one you created from it into the Appendix.

Creating Goals and Objectives  Once you have made the assessment, then you study it to determine what you can do within the library to meet those needs. From this you will generate the broader goals and then the objectives under each of those goals.  These goals and objectives will not be student centered as much as they will be goals and objectives for the improvement of your library services. That is why the assignment says they are not behavioral. You will not assess these by watching some student actually meet the objective. So, the objectives will not say: The student will…

The lessons  After you have made the goals and objectives, then you create the brief lesson overviews that come FROM the goals and objectives.  For example, if you decide one of your goals is to offer access to more grade specific databases, then you would be inclined to create a lesson that utilizes this new database with your special population group. Make sure the lesson actually will work for the population you have chosen to work with.